PC has never been a singular platform like, say, PlayStation or Xbox. Instead, it's a series of disparate landmasses sharing the same turbulent sea. PC gaming looks to become more fragmented than it's been in the past few years---for better and worse. More options means more chances for new ideas to flourish and, perhaps, for a new middle class of developers to emerge.

For a long time Windows PCs (OEMs) came with a product key sticker with your license info, but now manufacturers are storing this license within the machine's UEFI/BIOS, so the information is retrieved and applied automatically. Furthermore, your Windows license can now be tied to your Microsoft account. Let us explain...